Just stopped BF DS at 12mths. Can anyone remind me how long before boobs dry up please?

[MyCatIsABastard]

I said I would BF my DS til 12 mths and I have done it. Since he was 8mths old I have been cutting down on BF and he was only on 1 short feed a night at the end.

He seemed to want to stop himself last Wed's and I haven't BF him since then(he was 1 last Sunday), and he hasn't asked for it. My boobs are a bit sore now, although not too bad and not leaking. Can you adivce if there is anything I should do and how long they are likely to be like this?

I BF DD and did the same thing at 15mths old, but for the life of me I cannot remember how long it all took to dry up and settle down.

Thank you

I stopped BF when Ds was 6 months.

He is now 11 months and I still occasionally leak. Not massive amounts but it's there.

After stopping feeding my boobs were really sore for about 2 day's then tender for about 1 week then fine adter that.

Well done for feeding for so long. I still feel sad about giving up.

Thank you lifeas. You've reminded me that I seemed to be leaking for a good few months after DD, but nothing that hurt.

Did you need to massage your boobs or anything or did you just leave them to it?

TBH I'm not sad about giving it up. I feel I've done the best I can and something is better than nothing and I really want my body back now. You did fantastically to feed for 6mths too, don't beat yourself up. Anything is better than nothing.

I stopped at 15mo. Although went cold turkey from 2 feeds a day. Took 2 weeks for boobs to go down and stop feeling lumpy. But was still finding dried milk on my nipples a month later even though boobs felt completely back to 'normal'.

Cabbage leaves helped (dark green is best). Put them in your bra in the evening. Apparently they have milk reducing properties.

thanks digital girl. I'll give the cabbages a go (DH away next week so wont freak him out with my cabbaginess in the night ).

And well done for getting to 12 months! With mumsnet being my main source of breastfeeding information I didn't realise how rare it was to breastfeed beyond the first three or four months. I only know 2 people in RL who breastfed beyond 6 months.

Thanks digital girl. I didn't know anything different tbh. 2 of my best friends went on for about the same time as I did. We didn't think we were crusading or odd, just did it. I was so shocked to hear that only a very small percentage of children are bf til 12 mths.

Having said that, I am pretty happy to be giving up now. I have no idea how some women go on for yrs and yrs.